Private equity fundraising dropped to its lowest level in over five years during the first three months of 2009, while the number of buyout firms abandoning plans to raise fresh capital is slowly on the rise, according to new research, as investor appetite begins to mirror the flagging deal market.

A total of $45.9bn (€34.7bn) was raised for the final closes of 71 private equity funds in the first quarter of the year, according to industry data provider Private Equity Intelligence. This is the lowest quarterly figure since the final three months of 2003, when $34bn was raised.